A Different Reflection
by Loner Faris
Summary: Raven has a difficult question to ask. Point of view inspired by Bradbury's "A Careful Man Dies"; give me a reason that it should be K plus & I'll change the rating; Mystique/Destiny; rachelillustrates at DeviantArt made the cover & deserves complete credit.


You look into the vanity mirror in front of you & grimance. The reflection shows countless witch-hunts & shame. You don't look human, not right now. You could change that, but it's tedious to do so in your own home. Or at least when your friend always chastens not to hide from her.  
You look away from the mirror to cry for a moment. That was why your doing this; for your friend. She was more than a _mere_ friend, someone to spend time with, to talk, to _listen_. She was more than that because she was all of those things  & you'd never had it before. There must be someway to tell her this, to really explain it all to someone who'd never been where you were.  
The doorknob turns & you're human again. A beautiful young dark brunette enters to greet an equally, but somehow less stunning, pretty raven-haired woman. The newcomer doesn't look surprised, but seems disappointed instead. Closing the door, she quietly tells you to be yourself.  
Where are the words to tell this girl what she means to you everytime she says that? You could just brush it off & say nothing like you usually do, but you feel if you continue this way you'd never make it. That's why you were staring at that abominable reflection that your loved one knows, but has never truly seen. _That_ 's why you'd been telling this atrocious creature that she could do this, say what need to be said.  
Your friend sighs with despair that could break the cruelest men. You soon realize you're still human, a different being than the one she loves. Morphing back into the attire you've been hating since it came, you smile apologeticly. She sighs & walks over to you, laying a delicate hand on your shoulder.  
"Raven," she asks in a still hushed voice, "what's wrong?"  
You give the same false reasuring smile you alway do, knowing she wount see it, but know it's there & unreal. You shake your head, no, nothings wrong. You try to say nothing could be wrong while you're together, but the words panick & scramble back down your throat before they had even made it all the way up. She looks at you, ready to cry behind her dark glasses like you did not long before she entered.  
You break, telling her in choppy half- sentences that there are things that can't go unsaid any longer. She freezes, waiting for this ominous confession. You wait for it, too, hoping it won't find you. But after silent lifetimes, you feel it start to crawl up. It chokes you while you try to force it down, but it still comes.  
"Irene... I love you. Your the only true friend I've had. You've seen me for who I am, never changing you opinion after seeing _what_ I am. I can't lose you. There's nothing after this for me. I decided a long time ago to be in your life for the rest of mine. Nothing has made me happier than when you let me. But it's not enough if I don't say it. I need you to know, really understand who I am. What you are to me, I mean. Irene, I need to tell you, but..."  
You trail off as the mirror catches your eye, ending your soul-bearing experience. She senses this, but waits a moment in hopes you'll conquer this demon you see. When you don't, she does for you.  
"Raven, I know what you're trying to tell me. I know that it isn't good enough for me to know if you don't tell me, though. Don't look away. Try to see yourself as I do, for all that you truly are."  
The sowrd is thrust & the monsterous fear shinks back. This is how it always is. You remember it started out this way, too. Telling her now is your only option. You begin to say the words, making it to your first sentence, like a child, before the treacherous beast seizes you again.  
"Tell me," is her only command.  
You force it, think of the lonely horrors that would await your disobedience. You turn to the curtain covered window to explain. You're a man of undistinguished feature, pointing & angrilly calling out the demon you've seen in the mirror. Pivoting 180 degrees, you're the same women you were before, crying.  
Irene understands this, though her own parents were far more understanding of what they didn't know. She hold you, & tells you she's not one of _them_. They're not making a life together with you, she is. You calm down enough to lift her glasses to see into her breath-taking grey eyes, a task that would be easier if you could still see clearly throgh your own.  
She holds you & you tell her again that there is no other being in the world like her. She is divine, leaving you to wonder why you are alone in treating her as such. You breath without pain, something you hadn't noticed before now. She smiles & answers your questions before you know how to ask. She saves you with one sentence that you'll never forget.  
"Alright, Raven. You don't need to cry, please, just give me the ring."

 **Author's note: I always think of Mystique like her WATX version when I write these stories. Hope it shows!**


End file.
